


candygram

by skylofts



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day, i dont even know how else to describe it, this is like 5k words of incredibly gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 14:30:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6011266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skylofts/pseuds/skylofts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well!!” Hinata launches in, and Yamaguchi wonders how long this will take. “Well, see, it’s…” He pauses to count on his fingers. “Five days until Valentine’s, you know, so the student council set up this thing! It’s like, for people who want to send chocolates to other people, but are shy! Or want it to be a secret! And they’re doing it all this week! They’ll deliver things with little notes for you and everything!"</p><p>---</p><p>or, yamaguchi dreads valentine's day, and gains a secret admirer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	candygram

**Author's Note:**

> when people ask me how i spent my valentine's day i don't know how to tell them i just wrote a fanfic and drew gay art.
> 
> honestly, i'm not sure if a japanese high school would do candygrams for valentine's, but my old middle school did and i thought it would be cute. please suspend disbelief for the time being and enjoy this gay hell!
> 
> if you spot any errors let me know, since the only one to revise it was me.

Yamaguchi receives his first gift five days before Valentine’s Day.

In all honesty, he probably would have forgotten about the holiday if not for the decorations covering every possible surface. After all, it wasn’t like any girl was going to give _him_ special chocolates. If anything, he’d probably just have to field a bunch of them trying to figure out where Tsukki was while his friend carefully evaded them as he did every February 14th. It was funny to watch, but also discouraging-- every year he thinks that maybe _this_ time he’ll get more than an obligation chocolate from the team manager.

He voices this concern to Tsukki as they walk home on Monday and is met with an incredulous look.

“Do you really _want_ them trying to track you down all day? I swear, it’s like I’m trying to escape high-security prison.” They’d watched a spy film over the weekend, and Tsukishima’s sarcastic metaphors were still tending in that direction days later.

Yamaguchi laughs sheepishly, scrubbing a hand through his messy hair. He doesn’t look up at his friend as he replies. “Well, I don’t think I would even get as many as you, right? After all, not even one person’s given me honmei-choco since elementary school… I think. Was it that long?”

Occupied with counting years on his fingers, Yamaguchi doesn’t notice the odd sidelong look that Tsukki gives him. By the time he looks back up, his friend is admiring the moon.

“Don’t put so much thought into it… whatever happens happens. It’s just a silly holiday, anyway.”

“Ahaha, sorry, Tsukki!” 

As he waves his hands around, changing the subject to how Hinata’d taken not one but two spikes to the face in practice that day, Yamaguchi considers Tsukishima’s words. Even if he hadn’t meant them to be, they were comforting-- Tsukki was right, now that he thought about it. Valentine’s Day was silly! He’d made a lot of friends on the volleyball team, so who really needed romance? Not him, of course! 

“Can you come over tomorrow? There’s a documentary on cephalopods that I’m recording.” Tsukishima’s voice breaks into Yamaguchi’s very determined quest to convince himself he didn’t care about Valentine’s Day. Startled, his arms automatically flap around embarrassingly for a moment before he presses a hand to his chest. Tsukki gives him a dry look and then snorts. “Are you alright? Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about getting gifts.”

Of course he was. “Of course I wasn’t, Tsukki! And I’ll have you know I _am_ available, so I’ll come watch your cephalopod thingy tomorrow after school.” He declares this with the air of an emperor declaring his conquest over the world, and Tsukishima looks rather startled-- for him. His eyebrows raise a centimeter or so, which is basically the equivalent of him jumping ten feet in the air.

“Alright. I’m glad you’re excited...?”

“I am!” _God, Tadashi, chill out_ , he tells himself. _You sound like you won the lottery. Cephalopods aren’t that cool. Actually, what even_ is _a cephalopod, exactly?_ “Super excited! Cephalopods are super cool!”

Tsukki stares down at him for another moment… and then laughs softly. So softly Yamaguchi’s not even sure it happens. “You’re kinda weird, Yamaguchi. See you tomorrow, anyway.”

And off he goes down his respective road, raising a hand in farewell. Yamaguchi stares after him, face heating up unconsciously. Usually as it got closer to Valentine’s Day-- or any major holiday-- Tsukishima got grumpier, not… whatever he was. He certainly didn’t sound all _fond_ and _gushy_ when he laughed.

As he heads down the sidewalk to his own house, Yamaguchi gets the words cephalopod and chocolate mixed up several times in his head.

\--♡--

“Yamaguchi!!”

Hinata accosts him as he’s walking to his classroom in the morning, leaping in the air and very nearly giving him a premature heart attack. His teammate looks excited (although, when did he not?), so Yamaguchi mentally prepares himself to get dragged into some extra volleyball practice or something.

“Ah, Hinata. What’s up?”

“Did you see what they’re doing out front?”

“Eh?” Yamaguchi remembers walking past a table of some kind, sure, but it’d been on Tsukki’s side and his friend had given it a nasty look, so he hadn’t bothered examining it any closer. “No, I don’t think so…”

“Well!!” Hinata launches in, and Yamaguchi wonders how long this will take. “Well, see, it’s…” He pauses to count on his fingers. “ _Five_ days until Valentine’s, you know, so the student council set up this thing! It’s like, for people who want to send chocolates to other people, but are shy! Or want it to be a secret! And they’re doing it all this week! They’ll deliver things with little notes for you and everything, and it’s like, not even that expensive!”

So Valentine’s Day had struck again. Yamaguchi kind of wishes it would just stick to its one delegated day a year instead of making him suffer for an entire week. Trying not to feel disappointed at the arrival of another avenue for him to not receive any gifts in, he grins at Hinata, scratching his cheek.

“That’s a really good idea… are you going to use it?”

Apparently this is the response Hinata’d been waiting for, because he makes a birdlike noise that draws the attention of everyone in the hall and then leans in conspiratorially. His face is red to match his hair, Yamaguchi notices in amusement. 

“Yeah! I mean, I am-- I’m gonna send one to Kenma! He told me he doesn’t really like Valentine’s Day, but I’m hoping maybe if he gets to guess who sent him chocolate like a _game_ , he’d accept it?”

“Oh! Uh…” Yamaguchi trails off awkwardly, not sure what to do with this information. He could have suspected Hinata liked Nekoma’s setter from how much he rambled on about the texts that he got and tried to pin Yamaguchi and Tsukishima in Snapchat replies, so _that_ wasn’t the concerning part. “Hinata, I don’t… think they’d deliver chocolate to Tokyo for you?”

Somehow it seemed like Hinata had not considered this important detail, because he freezes midway to jumping in the air again, looking aghast. “Oh, gosh! I didn’t even think of that! What am I supposed to do now? I want to send him something! That’s what you do on Valentine’s Day! Oh nooooooo…”

Yamaguchi feels sympathetic. Valentine’s Day was a ruthless time, after all. “Sorry, Hinata… I never give or get anything, so I can’t really help you--”

“Uoooah?!” Hinata perks up again in approximately half a second, startling Yamaguchi into raising his hands defensively in case the other actually leaps on him. That would be fitting: death by Mach 10 levels of enthusiasm. “Really? You’ve never gotten anything? But you’re so nice! Hey, I bet people are just shy! With this candygram thing, I bet you’ll get _loads_ of stuff, okay? Don’t look so-- blah!”

Apparently satisfied with his pep talk, Hinata reaches up to pat Yamaguchi on the shoulder and then dashes off down the hall. Yamaguchi stands there in mild shock for a moment longer, trying to register that entire interaction. He hadn’t realized he looked _blah_ , whatever that meant. And what kind of silly name was _candygram?_ God, Valentine’s Day was the worst.

\--♡--

He forgets about it (aside from overhearing Hinata moaning to poor Yachi about how he didn’t know what to get Kenma) until before volleyball practice.

His discussion with Tsukki over the best prehistoric time period was (it was obviously Cretaceous, but Tsukki was determined to convince him that Jurassic was better) is cut short as they both go to their respective lockers to grab their shoes. Hinata barrels in as Yamaguchi opens his, crowing about how this was almost his hundredth victory… and is promptly shoved forward from his place blocking the door by Kageyama also arriving. There’s a lot of yelling about who's counting is correct, because Kagayama is _sure_ he had almost a hundred wins, so Hinata _must_ be behind. Tsukishima pauses with his shirt halfway off to give the duo an incredulous look as Hinata seems to be trying to attempt to show Kageyama his hundred victories by counting on his fingers. 

“It doesn’t really matter who has the most, because you’re both equally stupid,” he says with a smirk, turning back to changing as the pair’s loud yelling is turned on him. 

Yamaguchi probably would have said something to try and diffuse the situation, except that he barely notices the whole exchange. His attention is taken by the small bag of chocolates that had fallen out of his locker onto his feet. Had someone gotten the wrong locker? His and Tsukki’s were pretty far apart, so that seemed like a weird mistake to make. With a sigh, he bends down to pick it up, already opening his mouth to tell Tsukki that someone’d left him chocolate… and then freezes. 

The little tag on the bag reads:  
“Roses are red,  
Violets are blue,  
Dogs are cute,  
and Yamaguchi is too.”

It seems like a bit of a stretch for someone to have completely misspelled Tsukishima’s name as his own, which meant… that these chocolates were for him? Someone had left him, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Valentine’s chocolates-- and from the note, they seemed more like honmei-choco than obligation! But then… who were they from?

 _Ah,_ he remembers. _The candygrams._

He probably could have sat there and stared at the cute little bag for the entire rest of the evening, but Hinata leans over his shoulder a moment later and then promptly shrieks in his ear.

“UOOOOAH! I told you you’d get chocolates, Yamaguchi! Who are they from?”

Yamaguchi is sure, at this point, that he’s going to die of heart failure in high school. “Uh… I don’t know… there’s no name,” he murmurs, rereading the little poem.

“Heeey! Yamaguchi got chocolates already? Jeez, someone’s popular, huh?” Yamaguchi receives two more smacks on the back as Tanaka and Nishinoya crowd around him as well.

Before he can say anything else, Suga is peering over Yamaguchi’s shoulder to read the poem. “That’s cute… looks like you have a secret admirer, Yamaguchi!”

“A secret admirer! That’s so cool!” Hinata bounces several more times before realization strikes him. “Oooh! Suga-senpai! I need advice!”

Off he goes, chattering about his Valentine’s dilemma to an amused-looking Suga. Tanaka and Nishinoya soon follow, offering advice which mostly seems to be useless, which leaves Yamaguchi alone with his chocolates once more.

_A secret admirer…_

An embarrassed smile slips onto Yamaguchi’s face as he carefully places the chocolates in his bag and starts to change. He’s so focused on trying to figure out who would have sent him something that he doesn’t realize that Tsukishima hadn’t spoken up once during the entire conversation, nor the sidelong look his friend gives him before he shuffles out of the club room.

\--♡--

Yamaguchi finds it difficult to focus on the cephalopod documentary after practice. His mind resembles something like a scene out of an episode of CSI-- red string hanging everywhere, photos and brief interactions with his classmates connected, and in the middle… a bag of chocolate. Who could have sent it? Sure, he was friendly to everyone in his class, but the only person he talked to regularly was Tsukki. Then again, all of _Tsukki’s_ admirers barely knew who he was. They had to keep asking Yamaguchi how to write his name, after all. So really, Yamaguchi’s secret admirer could have been anyone, which didn’t help him figure it out at all--

“Yamaguchi. You’re thinking too loudly.”

Tsukki’s voice breaks into his thoughts and Yamaguchi realizes that he’d been aggressively tapping his fingers on the couch arm.

“Ahaha, sorry, Tsukki! Just wondering who sent me chocolate…”

“Does it matter?”

Yamaguchi blinks at the bitterness in his tone, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. He was probably being annoying, focusing on his secret admirer so much, but then again… well, Tsukki _had_ been known to be kinda petty about things. Laughing nervously, he scratches his ear and then glances over at his friend next to him on the couch.

“Are you jealous, Tsukki?”

Let it be known that Tsukishima Kei was not as cool and smooth as girls thought he was. At Yamaguchi’s accusation, he coughs abruptly, pushing up his glasses and staring very hard on the TV.

“Don’t be stupid. I just can’t focus on this documentary with you brooding so much.”

“There’s a commercial on right now, though. And if anyone broods, it’s you!”

Tsukki looks constipated (moreso than usual, at least) and Yamaguchi bursts out laughing.

“You _are_ jealous!”

“No, I’m not.”

“Don’t worry, Tsukki, I’m sure you’ll get some chocolate tomorrow!”

“I don’t care.”

Despite his friend’s apparent dismissal, Yamaguchi knows he’s won this evening and settles back into the couch with a very smug look. Cephalopods seemed much more interesting now with his victory. The look on Tsukishima’s face when Yamaguchi offers him one of the chocolates is funny, too, but he doesn’t really understand what there is to look so queasy about. They were actually pretty good!

\--♡--

The next day, Tsukishima’s admirers begin filing in. Yamaguchi has to field questions from no less than three different girls who want to know A: how to spell his name, and B: when the best time to confess to him is. It was funny-- even though he’d accused Tsukki of being jealous last night, he can’t help but feel slightly bitter at these girls. How could they confess to someone without even knowing his name? Did they know what sort of stuff Tsukki would like on dates? What about his favorite food? Would they watch boring cephalopod documentaries with him?

Yamaguchi belatedly realizes that he doesn’t really have any right to police who confesses to Tsukki. After all, they were just friends. Yamaguchi didn’t want to be the type to try and control who Tsukki talked to. Still, he reserves himself a tiny, unexplainable feeling of bitterness as he smiles and explains the character used in Tsukishima’s name.

He decides not to tell Tsukki about it, anyway, and it’s quickly forgotten as he finds another bag of chocolate in his locker. 

This time, the tag reads:  
“Roses are red,  
Violets are blue,  
Your serves are cool,  
and you are too.”

The crinkling of the bag as Yamaguchi opens it alerts Nishinoya, and in turn, Tanaka. With a dramatic yell, the former falls to his knees on the club floor, clenching his fists.

“Aaaargh! Yamaguchi is getting more chocolates than his senpai--! How could something like this happen?!”

“He’s got a better personality than you.” Tsukishima abruptly speaks up, putting on his glasses before brushing out of the club room. After a moment of stunned silence, Nishinoya and Tanaka follow him, hollering about being a “disrespectful kouhai!” Yamaguchi just feels confused. Tsukishima wasn’t the type to give out compliments, especially not in such a direct manner. He suspects no one had noticed, either, because Tsukishima’s tone was generally always some degree of bitter, but his friend had sounded especially annoyed before he’d left. Yamaguchi could put “Tsukki Decoder” on his resume, he thinks. 

Well, if he was jealous, the confessions he was going to receive in the next two days would probably brighten him up. Yamaguchi just didn’t really know _why_ he would be, since he’d had to sit through several years of Tsukki complaining about the commercialization of Valentine’s Day up until this point, but he’d always been kinda weird.

\--♡--

Three days before Valentine’s finds Yamaguchi with another bag of chocolate and another poem. 

“Roses are red, violets are blue, ice cream is sweet and so are you? Ehehe, this person’s not very good at changing up their poem, are they?” 

As the little card is read off to him, Tsukishima looks gradually more and more constipated until Yamaguchi looks up. Then he promptly tries to school his face and ends up looking like he’s eaten about six lemons. To stifle his sudden worry-- was he annoyed? It was hard to tell-- Yamaguchi giggles.

“I mean, it’s not _that_ bad, Tsukki!”

If anything, Tsukki looks even _more_ shifty, promptly muttering something about going to the restroom and trying to break for the door-- however, he’s stopped by the rest of the team, who had suddenly congregated in front of the clubroom window. 

Hinata, crouched in some sort of secret agent pose, explains.

“Look, look! Daichi-san and--”

Kageyama promptly smacks him on the head, hissing out a “ _quiet, idiot, they’ll hear!_ ” which escalates into a full-fledged tussle until Ennoshita tells them both to be quiet or he’ll tell Daichi that they were eavesdropping. The threat is enough to drive the entire team to silence as they watch the events out the window unfold.

Daichi seems to be trying to tell Suga something, the setter looking amused as Daichi waves his hands around vaguely. _His face looks like a tomato_ , Yamaguchi notes in amusement as he squeezes in next to Tsukki to watch out the window.

What has just set the record as the longest silence the team’s ever held is broken as Daichi pulls something out of his bag. “Is that--” starts Narita before Kinoshita smashes a hand over his mouth. It’s too late, though-- everyone sees the pink box, tied with a red ribbon, coupled with the blush on Daichi’s face…

“A CONFESSION!”

At least three people shout at the same time as Suga smiles, taking the box, and no one can react fast enough to cover their mouths. Both third-years turn to see the crowd now trying frozen behind the window, and Yamaguchi is fairly sure at least half the team begins planning their wills at the look on Daichi’s face. 

Tanaka and Nishinoya fire them both thumbs-ups.

When the clubroom door is opened a second later, Daichi is nearly trampled by Hinata and Kageyama as they dart out, a muffled chorus of “we’rereallyhappyforyouboth” following them in their break for freedom. Their lives are probably spared by the holiday spirit, actually, because Daichi’s hand being clasped in Suga’s prevents him from grabbing them both.

\--♡--

On Friday, Tsukishima receives a grand total of five confessions and boxes of chocolate. “It was a pain,” he tells Yamaguchi after school. “One of them cried when I said no.”

Yamaguchi pauses in rereading the note attached to his own daily bag-- the sender had apparently run out of things to rhyme with “blue” and had resorted to using “nice” and “cool as ice”-- to look up at Tsukki and laugh.

“You made a girl cry, Tsukki? I didn’t peg you for that type.”

“It’s not like that. How was I supposed to know?”

Yamaguchi snickers again at the disgruntled look on his friend’s face, nudging him with his shoulder. 

“They’re holding out hope that one of these days you’ll accept one of them, Tsukki!”

For some reason, Tsukishima looks even more out-of-sorts. “Well, I won’t.”

“Eh?” Yamaguchi wasn’t really surprised-- Tsukishima’d never shown any interest in girls at all, no matter how many confessed-- so his next words are meant entirely in jest. “Do you like someone else, Tsukki?”

Tsukishima doesn’t answer, and Yamaguchi blinks in surprise.

“What-- do you? You like someone? Tsukki, wait, don’t walk faster!”

“I don’t.”

“Why didn’t you say that the first time? Who is it?” Hands on his hips, Yamaguchi scoots around to plant himself in front of his friend, who looks like he wants to be anywhere else but here right now, _including_ volleyball practice.

“I’m not telling you--”

“Aha! So you do!”

Tsukki realizes his mistake a moment later and, uncharacteristically, turns the faintest shade of red. Aliens could descend from the sky and announce they were taking over the Earth and Yamaguchi would have been less surprised. “Just forget it,” he says after a moment of awkward silence, and not wanting to risk reaching the cold shoulder level of Tsukki Embarrassment, Yamaguchi moves out of the way. 

“Do you wanna get something to eat at the store? They probably have strawberry stuff, since it’s almost Valentine’s.”

“...I don’t have any money.”

Out of all the weird things that had happened on this walk home, Tsukki not having money ranked around the top. Tsukishima very rarely bought anything, so what he could have spent all his money on was a mystery. Especially given that if it had been after school, Yamaguchi probably would have been with him. 

“W-Well… I can buy you something, then!”

Several minutes later, as Tsukishima is presented with a bag of strawberry-flavored candies, Yamaguchi can’t help but feel all warm and mushy at the very faint smile on his friend’s face. _Maybe this is why people like Valentine’s Day so much?_

Tsukishima offers him the boxes of chocolate he’d gotten from his confessions.

\--♡--

The next day is Saturday, so Yamaguchi doesn’t get anything. That’s fine, of course-- he has plenty of chocolate, what with the four bags he had received and the few from Tsukki. Today would be spent _thinking_. He was going over to Tsukki’s tomorrow to watch a documentary on sharks, so he had to figure out who his admirer was before then. 

After laying all the bags and the little tags out on his desk in a neat row, Yamaguchi steeples his fingers under his chin and narrows his eyes at them. In spy movies they always made a list of things they knew and didn’t know. Alright. The chocolates were undoubtedly all bought from the candygram stand, given the prompt deliveries. They were from someone who didn’t know how to write poetry, apparently, which Yamaguchi found endearing-- but who! They also seemed homemade, which meant that it probably wasn’t a prank-- he figures if someone were trying to make fun of him they wouldn’t make chocolates and would just buy cheap ones instead. 

Still, although he’d avoided thinking about the possibility, now he can’t stop thinking about it. After all, if had been someone at school, they probably would have confessed on Friday if they were intending to at all, right? That meant that Yamaguchi wasn’t going to get a confession, unless it was someone who he saw on the weekend… but he only ever hung out with Tsukki, and sometimes Hinata. 

Hinata, as far as he could tell from the incomprehensible texts he’d been receiving all morning, was still trying to figure out what to get Kenma for Valentine’s Day, so it wasn’t like _he_ was going to confess. Yamaguchi didn’t know what he would do if Hinata confessed to him, now that he thought about it. He wasn’t opposed to receiving confessions from guys, of course, but… Hinata? That would just be weird.

Right on cue, his phone buzzes with a text.

 **From: Hinata**  
**|** yamaguchi i got a gift!!!for kenma!!!!finally

 _Well, at least someone knew what he was doing_ , he thinks. 

**To: Hinata**  
**|** oh? what did you settle on?

 **From: Hinata  
** | well!!!!!im going to send him a picture!!! of this cute cat stuffed animal i found BUT THEN, in its paws…… will be a train ticket to tokyo!!! because im going to go visit him and give him chocolate!! like next weekend  
**|** ISNT IT GREAT!!!!

Yamaguchi is astonished that it actually _is_ a great plan. Since when did Hinata get smooth?

 **To: Hinata  
|** that’s really great, hinata! good ideaヽ(;^o^ヽ)

 **From: Hinata  
|** thank you!!!!! im SUPER EXCITED!!! except it used all my change to buy it :((((((

Midway through typing a reply, realization strikes Yamaguchi. It’s like a dramatic flashback montage in a movie, the events of the past few days cycling through his head.

 _”I don’t have any money.”_

_”He’s got a better personality than you.”_

Tsukki’s weird attitude every time Yamaguchi talked about his gifts. The change in wording of the poem after Yamaguchi’d mentioned it. Tsukishima’s mysterious crush. 

“Oh, my god.”

He drops his phone on his desk.

\--♡--

Yamaguchi learns that night that he’s not a great cook. His mom walks in on him trying in vain to decipher a recipe, flour covering every visible surface of the kitchen, and laughs for a good five minutes before helping him.

He was just going to say he made the chocolates himself, though.

It’s not actually Tsukki that answers the door, but his brother. Yamaguchi is startled for a moment before he bows, scratching his cheek nervously.

“Ah, I--”

“Tadashi! You’re here to see Kei, right?”

Well, at least he was predictable. To be honest, the only thing that was preventing him from either A: passing out or B: running back home immediately was the knowledge that Tsukki was being about as embarrassing about this whole thing as he was. Yamaguchi made a mental vow never to let him live the poetry down… assuming everything went well, of course.

“Y-Yeah, uh, is he--”

“Niichan, stop being weird.”

Like a tall, disgruntled-looking guardian angel, Tsukki appears behind his brother, giving him an exasperated look before reaching forward past him to grab Yamaguchi’s arm. As he’s towed inside, Yamaguchi at least offers Akiteru (who looks about two seconds from bursting into laughter) a small wave.

“Good luck, Tadashi!”

Tsukki snorts in derision and leads Yamaguchi up to his room, shutting the door before his brother can say anything else embarrassing. Then he turns, the two engaging in a truly awkward silence before they both try to speak simultaneously.

“I need to tell you something--”

“I know you sent me the chocolates--”

Tsukishima, apparently having thought he was the pinnacle of secrecy, promptly shuts his mouth and turns a bright red equatable to a fire engine. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yamaguchi _really_ wishes he could record this moment and send it to every person who ever said Tsukki was cool. In absence of a camera, he covers his mouth and giggles, which only makes Tsukishima redder.

“Oh, alright, Tsukki… I guess I was wrong. I’ll just give these chocolates to someone else, then.”

Once more Tsukishima’s reaction is the only thing preventing Yamaguchi from literally dissolving into a puddle of nerves on the floor. Smiling hesitantly, he reaches into his bag and pulls out the small box he’d prepared the previous night. At a lack of dismissal, he holds it out to Tsukki, who just stares at it like Yamaguchi has grown two arms and they’re both doing their utmost to make him die of embarrassment. 

“...Your hand is shaking, Yamaguchi.”

“W-W… Well! I’ve never confessed to anyone before! Why wouldn’t I be? Shaking, I mean--”

Tsukishima’s voice is very soft when he interrupts, and, unless Yamaguchi’s ears are deceiving him, hesitant. He’s never heard Tsukki sound hesitant a day in his life.

“You don’t have to confess to make me feel better or something. It’s fine.”

Yamaguchi freezes, hand still in the air. He probably looks like a deer in headlights, but-- is _that_ what Tsukki thought was happening? It was understandable, he supposed, but-- he’d never been the greatest with words, and he should have known that Tsukishima wasn’t as confident as he made everyone believe--

“No! No, I’m not-- I mean, I _am_ confessing, but not because I’m… not out of obligation! I like you! It’s the worst when girls always come over and ask me how to confess to you because I think that… th-they don’t deserve you! Because they don’t even know how to spell your name right, and they wouldn’t want to watch cephalopod movies with you, and they don’t know you like strawberries because you never tell anyone! But-- I… if you… feel the same… I would! I... why are you laughing?”

Yamaguchi stares confusedly at his friend as he snickers softly behind his hand, the sound of Tsukki’s genuine laughter one of the nicest sounds he’s heard in the entire world. Probably top 5. After a few moments, Tsukishima looks up with a slight smile on his face.

“That was really smooth, Yamaguchi.”

“Wh! W-Was it…”

“Yeah. Much smoother than poetry.”

Yamaguchi plants the hand not still holding chocolate on his hip. “Are you making fun of me, Tsukishima Kei?”

“Of course not… uh.”

Tsukishima suddenly sounds uncertain, and Yamaguchi squints at him. “Uh?”

“For all the times girls have confessed to me…” he starts, looking up at the ceiling. “I don’t know how… to accept.”

“You don’t know how to accept a confession?” 

“Why would I? I’ve only ever liked you for the longest time…”

Yamaguchi stifles the floaty, warm feeling at this and waves the box in his hand around a bit.

“Well, first you take my chocolate, because my hand is asleep.”

“Oh, right.” He does this, and then looks at the ceiling again. Yamaguchi decides he probably just needs to take things into his own hands so they don’t end up standing here for several years. 

“Tsukishima Kei, will you go out with me? On a date?”

“As opposed to going out where…?”

“Tsukki! Just say yes, okay?”

“Fine.” Tucking the box under his arm, Tsukishima reaches forward to take both of Yamaguchi’s hands in his own. He looks very earnest, and his hands are warm. Yamaguchi is quite in love. “I’ll go out with you.”

Yamaguchi’s grin makes his cheeks hurt, and Tsukishima mirrors it with his own small one. 

“That’s great! This is great-- great! I’m really happy, Tsukki!”

“Kei.”

“Eh--?” Yamaguchi’d thought the whole thing was over but apparently not. Tsukki looks embarrassed again.

“If we’re going to date… you should call me Kei. Tadashi.”

After a moment of startled staring, Yamaguchi giggles, leaning forward to shyly press his lips to Tsukishima’s cheek.

“Sure, Kei! I’m really happy. We can go watch the shark movie together now, okay?”

As he scoots past Tsukishima into the hall, his grin only grows at the complete shock on his friend-- _boyfriend’s_ \-- face. _Maybe Valentine’s Day wasn’t so bad after all!_

**Author's Note:**

> alt summary: tsukishima is bad at poetry
> 
> as usual, you can follow me on twitter @reytxt or tumblr @skyioft. thanks so much for reading, and happy valentine's day!


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